Influence of variable stress ratio during train operation on residual fatigue lifetime of railway axles

Railway axles are subjected to cyclic loading, which could lead to fatigue failure. Therefore, it is desired to know residual fatigue lifetime of railway axles to ensure safe operation of trains. Because of detection of relatively small fatigue cracks is not guaranteed an estimation of residual fatigue lifetime is based on damage tolerance approach. The acting stress ratio is variable due to variable amplitude loading and load caused by existence of press-fitted wheel in the vicinity of assumed crack. The contribution is focused on influence of variable stress ratio in EA4T steel on residual fatigue lifetime of railway axles. The influence of stress intensity factor on fatigue crack propagation rate was experimentally evaluated for three different stress ratios, which correspond to operation conditions. Two different expressions of fatigue crack propagation rate were used and mutually compared to show influence of the stress ratio on residual fatigue lifetime of structure made of EA4T steel. The first expression considers stress intensity factor range (respecting stress ratio R) and the second one uses maximal value of the stress intensity factor. The paper shows ability of both expressions to describe experimental data obtained under different stress ratios and their influence on estimated residual fatigue lifetime values. The results obtained contribute to the better estimation of residual fatigue lifetime of railway axles and generally to the safer rail transportation. Copyright (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Prediction of maximum casting defect size in MAR-M-247 alloy processed by hot isostatic pressing

Nickel based MAR-M-247 superalloy treated by hot isostatic pressing was investigated with the aim to identify the influence of casting defect size on fatigue life. Two testing temperatures of 650 and 800°C and one stress amplitude were chosen for fatigue tests. The Murakami approach and the largest extreme value distribution theory were applied. It has been found that the maximum size of casting defects in a specimen can be satisfactorily predicted. Fatigue life of specimens was in the good agreement with assumptions based on the evaluation and prediction of the casting defect size

Experimental and numerical analysis of in- and out- of plane constraint effects on fracture parameters: Aluminium alloy 2024

The influence of in- and out- of plane constraints on the behaviour of a crack under mode I loading conditions is studied. The independence of the stress intensity tensor, with respect to the specimen thickness B shows that under loss of constraint conditions higher order members of the Williams’ tensor expansion must be considered if the experimental results for increasing apparent fracture toughness resulting from decreasing specimen thickness are to be explained. This is achieved using the constraint curves that define the intensity field tensor along the crack propagation direction and can be alternative to the T-stress approach. This approach is then applied to crack instability assessment for program compact tension (CT — positive values of T-stress) and three point bending (3PB— from negative to positive values of T-stress) specimens with different thicknesses. The theoretical results are compared with experimental ones obtained from the research program on aluminium alloy 2024

Prediction of maximum casting defect size in MAR-M-247 alloy processed by hot isostatic pressing

Nickel based MAR-M-247 superalloy treated by hot isostatic pressing was investigated with the aim to identify the influence of casting defect size on fatigue life. Two testing temperatures of 650 and 800°C and one stress amplitude were chosen for fatigue tests. The Murakami approach and the largest extreme value distribution theory were applied. It has been found that the maximum size of casting defects in a specimen can be satisfactorily predicted. Fatigue life of specimens was in the good agreement with assumptions based on the evaluation and prediction of the casting defect size

Study of mixed mode crack propagation in pipe type specimen

Fatigue specimens loaded in mixed mode are not used commonly. One of the reasons for this is that there are still not enough qualitative results, based on which it would be possible to tell in what way are the mode II and mode III affecting overall crack propagation. However, there is considerable number of parts loaded in mixed mode. Studying fatigue failure of roller bearing elements made of polymer material was a motivation to design an experimental specimen, on which the fracture behaviour of the material loaded in mixed mode could be observed. This work is dealing with FEM simulation of this specimen and calculation of fracture mechanics parameters

Stage I fatigue cracking in MAR-M 247 superalloy at elevated temperatures

Nickel base superalloys exhibit fatigue fracture behavior with features of brittle-like cleavage cracking under high cycle fatigue loading at temperatures up to approximately 800 °C. This specific fracture behavior was already documented in several studies, but a possible mechanism of fatigue crack propagation under this mode has not been made completely clear yet. The aim of this paper is to put more light on the phenomenon by using advanced electron microscopy techniques like electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) and focused ion beam (FIB) sectioning. Fractured specimens after high cycle fatigue tests were thoroughly examined with the aim to localize the fatigue crack initiation sites and accompanying features of the fatigue crack propagation. Several specimens were cross-sectioned in order to characterize active slip systems, cyclic plastic deformation localization and fatigue crack propagation. Dislocation structures were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM)

Influence of heat treatment-induced residual stress on residual fatigue life of railway axles

Assessment of residual fatigue life of railway axles commonly does not include effect of residual stress. This paper presents advanced methodology for estimation of residual fatigue life of railway axles considering not only external loading but also internal residual stresses. The studied axles made of the EA4T steel were treated by induction hardening in order to generate very high compressive residual stress in the surface layer of the axle. Such residual stress has positive effect on behaviour of surface defects and leads to fatigue crack retardation or even crack arrest and, consequently, to immense prolongation of residual fatigue life. Experimentally measured data of residual stress were implemented in a numerical model in order to determine the true stress state in the axle. The model included a crack and took the effects of bending, press fit and residual stress into account. Residual fatigue life was calculated for various starting crack lengths based on the experimentally determined da/dN-ΔK curves for various load ratios. Finally, the results for axles hardened by standard method and by induction hardening were compared with residual fatigue lives obtained experimentally from fatigue tests on real railway axles with artificial cracks. The calculated values were conservative with good agreement with experimental dat